*'I'm delighted with all of them and I'm delighted for all of them' - by Luke Turner*

PUBLISHED: 24th Apr 18

Solihull
Moors manager Mark Yates was beaming with pride after the club completed the
great escape with a 2-1 victory at Tranmere Rovers.

Yates picked
up the reigns in November as the side sat rock bottom of the table, with just
three wins from 19 games.

The gap
between the Moors and safety stood at 12 points at Christmas time, but a run of
just five defeats in 26 games has ensured National League football for a third
successive campaign.

Speaking with
a look of relief, Yates said: “I’m proud and delighted for every one of those
boys in there who’ve worked their socks off. A lot of hard work has gone into
what has happened tonight, that we’ve nailed it down and we’re a National
League team next season.

“Every one of
them has been outstanding since I walked through the door. It’s not just about
the 11 that have started.

“They come in
every day and they train hard and they’ve been part of the group. They’ve been
brilliant.

“When we
walked in the door in November, I don’t think that many people gave us too much
chance.

“We were a
team that were just getting beat and we had to try and change that mental
block, if you like.

“We brought
in better players right from the start. We brought Kwame (Thomas) in to do a
job and his performance at Maidstone was outstanding – that set the tone for
mine, Tim’s (Flowers) and Gaz’ (Whild) team going forward.

“It was going
to be about everybody putting a shift in. My players have had to play under
intense pressure for 26 games because we’ve had to win. It’s come down to the
last but one game of the season because of the situation we were in.

“Tonight was
a different pressure. You look at their team sheet and I think everybody
expected us to win.”

While the second
half of the season has produced many fine moments, Yates pinpointed a few that
helped get the ball rolling and turn the tide in Solihull’s favour.

“Like I said,
I think Kwame’s performance in the first game set the tone because I brought
him in on the Thursday and I said to go and show my team what hard work’s
about.

“He hasn’t
got us as many goals as we would’ve liked and as he would’ve liked, but he’s
been absolutely magnificent for what we’ve had to do. He will be magnificent
for us again next season.

“We couldn’t
even talk about getting off the bottom until we’d secured back-to-back wins.
The New Year period when we came from a goal down against Barrow, showed great
character, won 2-1 at a tough place to go and then followed it up with a great
performance and win against Maidenhead.

“That was the
time we probably thought, if we can get the players we want in January, then we
can hopefully start really believing.”

And from
securing some key additions in the winter transfer window to moulding the team
around being difficult to beat, Yates was keen to point out the committed approach
that was delivered by everyone associated.

“It’s been a
lot of hard work from everybody,” He continued.

“The board,
the people above me have given me nearly everything that I’ve asked for.

“Without
them, we’d have been relegated at the end of February without a doubt. Credit
to them for putting their hands in their pockets and believing in the plan that
we had.

“They saw the
quality of players that we were bringing in. I went and got Kyle (Storer) and
he’s been absolutely outstanding. The last five or six games in particular,
that’s what I signed him for.